Time for new understanding of obesity

John RathbunBe Our Guest

Published: Wednesday, September 4, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, September 3, 2013 at 6:46 p.m.

Last Sunday’s Mountain Views section featured battling columnists on the obesity epidemic, both of whom prescribed wrongheaded solutions. Space-age technology won’t make it into the marketplace for at least a decade, and the last thing we need is another massive government program to dictate what Americans eat.

What we need, instead, is a new understanding of the obesity problem that will inspire individuals to regain control of their dietary practices.

We need to recall that our distant ancestors had access to highly energetic animal-derived foods more than any sort of agricultural product, so our bodies evolved ways to use these foods effectively to sustain health. Those stone-age humans were prey to infectious diseases that modern medical science has largely eliminated, but if they survived youth, they were as likely to enjoy their grandchildren as modern humans.

Then, about 10,000 years ago, global warming set in. The ice that had covered much of the current temperate region receded toward the poles, and agriculture began. This innovation grossly increased the human population, as starchy foods furnished energy in a cheaper and more reliable way than hunter-gatherers could.

Fast-forward to the recent past, and we see something more ominous coming out of the industrial revolution: Farming is mechanized, food distribution is corporatized, and work is mostly something we do sitting down. Then our nutritional establishment gets the idea that excess dietary fats are the main cause of preventable health problems in older Americans, our government jumps onboard to encourage substitution of starchy foods for fatty ones, and an epidemic of obesity breaks out.

The cure is obvious, once you stop and think about it: Cut way down on the “white stuff” — sweet and starchy foods that are now a mainstay of the American diet.

This requires a strong commitment to new ways of eating and shopping. Stay away from the center of the grocery store and obsessively read the ingredients list on everything before you buy or consume it. Everything with sugar, grain, potatoes, corn or any other starchy product has to go. Most beverages are ruled out, for example, as they are rife with sugar.

Note that food manufacturers have a lot of ways to disguise sugar in your food. Anything ending in “ose,” “ol,” “syrup,” “nectar” or “concentrate” is suspect, along with cane extract, honey, beet juice or any fruit extract. Almost anything labeled “lite” is bad for you.

What’s left? Meat, for one, including fish, seafood and fowl as well as beef and pork — baked or broiled rather than deep-fried with breading. Eggs. Anything green, especially raw, boiled or steamed. All sorts of nuts. Limited amounts of fresh fruits and root vegetables other than white potatoes. Occasional cheese if it contains no more than three ingredients. Butter and olive oil. Sea salt, limited doses of an artificial sweetener such as stevia for your (unsweetened) tea, and all the herbs and spices you can stand.

That’s really a rich, varied, healthy diet once you get used to it. It’s not a cheap diet, but it’s a lot cheaper than the heart attacks, diabetes and hypertension problems associated with our current diet.

Though the non-fat faddists will shriek, scientific research clearly shows that reducing your carbohydrate load will likely help your weight normalize along with insulin resistance, hypertension and even blood lipids.

It shouldn’t take government mandates to persuade us to mend our ways!

<p>Last Sunday's Mountain Views section featured battling columnists on the obesity epidemic, both of whom prescribed wrongheaded solutions. Space-age technology won't make it into the marketplace for at least a decade, and the last thing we need is another massive government program to dictate what Americans eat.</p><p>What we need, instead, is a new understanding of the obesity problem that will inspire individuals to regain control of their dietary practices.</p><p>We need to recall that our distant ancestors had access to highly energetic animal-derived foods more than any sort of agricultural product, so our bodies evolved ways to use these foods effectively to sustain health. Those stone-age humans were prey to infectious diseases that modern medical science has largely eliminated, but if they survived youth, they were as likely to enjoy their grandchildren as modern humans.</p><p>Then, about 10,000 years ago, global warming set in. The ice that had covered much of the current temperate region receded toward the poles, and agriculture began. This innovation grossly increased the human population, as starchy foods furnished energy in a cheaper and more reliable way than hunter-gatherers could.</p><p>Fast-forward to the recent past, and we see something more ominous coming out of the industrial revolution: Farming is mechanized, food distribution is corporatized, and work is mostly something we do sitting down. Then our nutritional establishment gets the idea that excess dietary fats are the main cause of preventable health problems in older Americans, our government jumps onboard to encourage substitution of starchy foods for fatty ones, and an epidemic of obesity breaks out.</p><p>The cure is obvious, once you stop and think about it: Cut way down on the “white stuff” — sweet and starchy foods that are now a mainstay of the American diet.</p><p>This requires a strong commitment to new ways of eating and shopping. Stay away from the center of the grocery store and obsessively read the ingredients list on everything before you buy or consume it. Everything with sugar, grain, potatoes, corn or any other starchy product has to go. Most beverages are ruled out, for example, as they are rife with sugar.</p><p>Note that food manufacturers have a lot of ways to disguise sugar in your food. Anything ending in “ose,” “ol,” “syrup,” “nectar” or “concentrate” is suspect, along with cane extract, honey, beet juice or any fruit extract. Almost anything labeled “lite” is bad for you.</p><p>What's left? Meat, for one, including fish, seafood and fowl as well as beef and pork — baked or broiled rather than deep-fried with breading. Eggs. Anything green, especially raw, boiled or steamed. All sorts of nuts. Limited amounts of fresh fruits and root vegetables other than white potatoes. Occasional cheese if it contains no more than three ingredients. Butter and olive oil. Sea salt, limited doses of an artificial sweetener such as stevia for your (unsweetened) tea, and all the herbs and spices you can stand.</p><p>That's really a rich, varied, healthy diet once you get used to it. It's not a cheap diet, but it's a lot cheaper than the heart attacks, diabetes and hypertension problems associated with our current diet.</p><p>Though the non-fat faddists will shriek, scientific research clearly shows that reducing your carbohydrate load will likely help your weight normalize along with insulin resistance, hypertension and even blood lipids.</p><p>It shouldn't take government mandates to persuade us to mend our ways!</p><p>John Rathbun, a retired psychiatrist, is a Mills River resident.</p>